Yosemite protection plan meets protests

Glacier Point can be seen above the Curry Village snack bar in Yosemite National Park. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Rafters enjoy a tranquil stretch of the Merced River near Curry Village in Yosemite National Park on June 17. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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An energetic visitor poses for a photo at the iconic Tunnel View Overlook at Yosemite National Park in June. Last year's fatal outbreak of hantavirus has not kept crowds from enjoying the beauty of Yosemite National Park. Four million visited the park in 2012. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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While swift moving waters above the valley are not safe to enter, the flat, tranquil stretches of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park are popular for rafting and swimming. JEBB HARRIS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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While swift-moving waters above the valley are not safe to enter, the flat, tranquil stretches of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park are popular for rafting and swimming. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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El Capitan soars 3,000 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor tempting elite climbers. A sharp eye can sometimes spot climbers on the face. The challenges can be dangerous: The NPS says more than 100 climbing accidents occur in Yosemite each year. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

What's next

The National Park Service was expected to announce this month which of six proposed alternatives it would pursue for its Merced River Plan; but the deadline for a decision has been extended to December. The park service's preferred alternative would mean shuttering a number of tourist amenities.

WASHINGTON – A simmering battle over the future of long-enjoyed tourist amenities in Yosemite National Park reached Capitol Hill on Tuesday when members of Congress chided the National Park Service for its plan to end bike, horse and river raft rentals at one of the most visited parks in the world.

The swimming pools at the Ahwahnee Hotel and Yosemite Lodge would be removed, as would the ice skating rink and the art center.

Historic Sugar Pine Bridge, located behind the Ahwahnee Hotel and one of several rustic bridges built between 1928 and 1932 in Yosemite, also would be demolished. Some facilities would be relocated, and visitors could bring their own rafts, horses and bikes for personal use.

The hearing is in response to the park service's proposed Merced River Plan, a 2,500-page strategy document released in January, aimed at protection and preservation of the Merced River. The document, which outlines six alternatives including the park service's preferred alternative, resulted from a series of lawsuits and a 2008 appeals court ruling regarding potential sources of degradation to the 145-mile San Joaquin River tributary that flows from the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley.

But critics said the approach preferred by the park service goes overboard and discourages tourists – about 4 million annually – from experiencing Yosemite in ways that families have come to enjoy since it was established as a national park in 1890.

“They're moving tourist amenities away from the tourists,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, whose district includes Yosemite. “I think they're quite capable of ruining the experience for visitors and I think that's the ultimate effect of the plan.” He characterized it as an excuse to expel commercial enterprises and dramatically reduce the recreational activities available to visitors. He called allowing people to bring their own bikes, rafts and horses a “let them eat cake” moment for the park service.

Wendy Brown-Barry, a resident of Mariposa and a leader of the group Yosemite for Everyone, testified to the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation that the park service's proposal would “sever a major artery” for visitors to the area, hurting the local economy. “The relocation [strategy] to me is not feasible; they're going to have to put [facilities] back away from the river which puts [them] closer to the rock fall zone,” Brown said. “And there's no desecration to the river [from the amenities]. They do not desecrate the river.”

National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis defended the park service's preferred alternative and said relocating the amenities is consistent with the 1980 Yosemite General Management Plan.

When McClintock asked for specifics on how far the services would be moved from their current locations, Jarvis and his staff could not answer. “In some instances, these commercial services may be reasonably relocated outside the river corridor but remain in Yosemite Valley, or in other locations inside or outside of the park, and available to park visitors,” Jarvis said. He noted that the configuration of the area – about one mile wide and seven miles long – with potential rockslides on almost every side, makes relocation within the park difficult.

The park service has outlined six alternatives, including “no action,” which would leave the park as is but continue efforts to recover from a disastrous 1997 flood that wiped out many facilities, especially campsites. Jarvis said he and his team have gone to “heroic efforts” to relocate the campgrounds in safer places where they won't be destroyed by floods or crushed by rock falls. Of the 828 sites that were destroyed by the flood, 640 have been restored, many fewer than McClintock would like to see.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Creek, also testified and said that the plan should move forward, that the park service was walking the tightrope of facilitating tourism while still “meeting the needs of the natural environment.”

He said the ice skating rink should be removed because it is outdated, but that rafting, biking and horseback riding will remain; the question, he said, is whether they are commercially operated or handled by tourists themselves. “There are some issues that remain,” Garamendi said. “And if we're down to just horses, bikes, rafting and ice skating – wow, a lot of progress has been made.”

Yosemite annual visitors

2012

3.99 million

2011

4.09 million

2010

4.0 million

2009

3.88 million

2008

3.6 million

2007

3.6 million

2006

3.4 million

2005

3.4 million

Yosemite by the numbers

Annual visitors: About 4 million

Hikers: 53,139 in 2010, up 30% from 40,728 in 2005

Overnight stays: 142,864 in 2010, up 75% from 81,870 in 2005

Land mass: 747,956 acres, or 1,169 square miles

Designated wilderness: 704,624 acres, or 1,101 square miles, or more than 94% of the park.

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